bilhimer



(Model) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. C. F. BILHIMER. PERMUTATION LOCK.

No. 415,492. Patented Nov. 19, 1889.

lllll (ModeL) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

O. P. BILHIMER. PERMUTATION LOOK.

No. 415,492. Patented Nov. 19, 1889.

N. PEIERS. Phntml-hhgrapher. Washington. D. a

(ModeL) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

C. P. BILHIMER. PERMUTATION LOOK.

No. 415,492. Patented Nov. 19, 1889.

N. PETERS. mumu yg hu. Washington. D c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CYRUS F. BILI'IIMER, OF IRWIN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF 'lWVO-THIRDS TOD. LAUFFER AND \VILLIAM \VILLIAMS, ()F SAME PLACE.

PERM UTATlON-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 415,492, dated November19, 1889.

Application filed June 5, 1889. Serial No. 313,147. (Model) To all whomit may concern:

Be it known that I, CYRUs F. BILHIMER, a resident of Irwin, in thecounty of \Vestmoreland and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Permutation-Locks; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to locks, and more especially to a combination orpermutation lock, which is suitable to be employed on doors of privatedwellings, OffiCBS, safes, vaults, &c., its object being to provide apermutation-lock which is simple in construction, yet which may bechanged to a number of combinations and can only be opened by a personknowing the same, while also doing away with the necessity of a key.

To these ends my invention consists in certain improvements andcombination of parts, all of which will be more fullyhereinafter setforth.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use Inyinvention,I willdescribe the same more fully, referring to the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 is a plan View of the interior of the casing. Fig. 2 isa cross-section showing the tumblers in position. Fig. 3 is aperspective view of the top of one of the tumblers; Fig. 4, aperspective View of the bottom of same; Fig. 5, a view of bottom ofactuating tumbler. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the lock, showing thecombination closed, the back plate of the casing being removed. Fig. 7is a like View showing combination open. Fig. 8 is a cross-sectionshowing the cams secured to the central spindle. Figs. 9 and 10 areperspective views of the cams. Fig. 11 is a View of the locking-dog.Fig. 12 is a perspective View of the dog employed to lock the bolt fromthe inside, and Fig. 13 is aview of the pawl for locking theactuating-tumbler.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each of the figures ofthe drawings.

In the drawings, (t represents the circular casing constructed of anysuitable material and adapted to receive the several parts of the devicewhich compose the lock and the parts necessary to operate the lockingapparatus. Th is casing a is to be secured by means of screws to theinside of the door, and consists in the large seat a and the flangedportion a surrounding said seat. In the center of the seat a of thecasing a is the central opening c through which the central spindle bywhich the lock is operated from within or without passes. Surroundingthis opening (1 within the seat a of the casing, is the boss I), aportion of said boss being cut away, as at b, this portion being on thelower side of the boss when the lock is secured in position on the door.Directly above the boss I), on the inner face of the casing, is formedthe Wedge-shaped lug c. WVithin the seat- CL of the casing the tumblersdare arranged. These tumblers, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, areconstructed of cast-iron or other suitable material, and are providedwith the flanges cl, said flanges being perforated at regular intervalsto form the holes d into any one of which may be inserted the pins d Alarge opening d is formed in the center of the tumblers d, and extendingin from said openings are the notches The upper face of the tumblers dhave formed thereon the lugs d, which lugs are arranged to be directlyopposite the notches d on the upper side of the tumblers, While smallnicks d are cut in the outer edge of the tumblers in line with thecenter of the lug d.

hen the tumblers d are arranged in position within the seat a of thecasing, they rest one upon the other, as shown in Fig. 2, the flange ofone tumbler resting upon the upper face of the next lower, and so on tothe bottom one, which rests against the casing itself. In this positionthey are arranged to be turned or actuated by the actuating-tumbler e,which is similar in construction to the tumblers d, with the exceptionof the toothed periphery e, and as the said actuating-tumbler is the topone of the series there is no necessity of a lug corresponding to thelug d. The actuating-tumbler c has 011 its flange e the small nick 6which corresponds in position to the nicks (Z and a pin e cor respondingto the pins 1 In order to get at the tumblers (Z and e to change thecombination when the casing is secured to the door, I furnish the casingto with an opening a of sufficient size toallow the several pins in thedifferent tumblers to spindle, the one section f screwing into thesection f ,-so that one section may be turned independently of theother. This central spindle f passes through the central opening a ofthe casing and the openings (1 of the tumblers, and on its ends are tobe secured the knobs or handles for operating the lock.

The cams h and t' (shown in Figs. 9 and 10) are adapted to be fitted onthe central spindle f-one' on each section-and as the said spindle issquare in section the cams h and 'L' are furnished with square bearingsto fit on said spindle. The cam his provided with a recess h on oneside, and on the other side is cut away to form the shoulder 72, A wing7L3 extends up from one side of the recess h, and an annular seat h isformed within the cam. The cam t, which is adapted to fit on the sectionf of the spindle f, has 011 one end the neck t", which, when the camsare fitted on the spindle, enters into the annular seat h of the cam hand turns easily therein. This cam t' is also provided with the recessF. In securing the cams h and 1' upon the swiveled spindle f the cam hisfirst slipped on said spindle over the section f and onto the section fto a point just beyond the point of connection of the two sections f fwhere it is prevented from any further movement on the section f by thepin f passing through said section and against which it abuts. The cam iis then slipped uponthe section f of the spindle f until the neck 1"enters the annular seat h of the cam h, and as the point of connectionof the sections f f is within this annularseat 713, when the section fis turned the mm 1; will turn with it, the neck 2" turning freely in theannular seat 72 In this way thescction f and the cam 11 thereon have amovement entirely independent of the section f.

\Vhen the cams h and 2' have been fitted on the spindle fin the mannerdescribed, the tumblers having been arranged within the casing in theproper manner, the said cams are inserted in the casing and fit withinthe space formed in the center of the casing by the openings (1 of thetumblers. The sect-ion f of the spindle passes through the centralopening a of the casing, while the neck 1' on the cam t' enters the saidopening a and the shoulder i rests upon the boss I).

- \Vhen the lock is secured to the door, the cam h is arranged to havethe recess 7L face the lower side of the casing and the shoulder 7L2face the top of said casing, while the cam q; is arranged to have itsrecess 2' face the top of the casing. The latch-bar 1.; has the pin orstud it, which enters into the recess 2' of the cam *5, so that when thecam is turned the stud moves with it, and so draws the latch-bar in thesame direction, and when the camh is turned to the right the shoulder7L2 willengage with the stud 7c and move it in the same direction.'

A dog Z (shown in Fig. 11) has at one end the locking-arm Z and at theother the circular lug Z said lug being adapted to fit in a seat m inthe casing, while the locking-arm Z enters the recess h in the cam h andpasses down to the bottom of the casing to that portion of the bosswhich is cut away for this purpose. When the combination is closed, thislocking-dogl prevents the cam h from being turned in either direction;but when it is openthat is, when all the notches cl of of the tumblersd, as Well as the one 011 the actuating-tumbler e, are at the same pointand coincide with each other, as in Fig. 7 the locking-dog Z will dropof its own accord, and so allow the cam 72 to be turned. A suitable seatat in the casing alias journaled therein the gear-pinion o, and adaptedto be operated from without by a suitable spindle 0' and handleconnected thereto. The cogs of the pinion 0 mesh with the toothedperiphery e of the actuating-tumbler 6, so that by turning the pinion 0the actuating-tumbler e is operated, and with it all the other tumblers,as will be hereinafter more specifically shown.

In order to lock the actuating-tumbler 6, when it is desired to preventany one from meddling with the lock and changing the combination, a pawl19 is arranged to slide to and fro in a suitable guideway q, formed inthe flanged portion a of the casing, the said pawl extending through anopening q in the casing to a point without said oasing, whereit can beforced in to engage with the toothed periphery of the actuating-tunrbler c, or withdrawn therefrom, as it may be desired, to lock or unlockthe said actuating-tumbler e. v The pawl 19 has formed thereon the lug pand around said lug is the coiled spring r, which fits within the seat7', surrounding the guideway g. Upon this coiled springrrests the dog 8,the said spring entering a circular seat 8 in said dog, so that the dogmay be moved to and fro in a small radius, working on the spring r andthe lug 19 as a pivotal point, the object of the spring 1' being toforce up the dog 8, so that the end s of the dog which extendswithout'the casing through the same opening q as the pawl 19 will notinterfere with the working of said pawl. As the arm 8 of the dog 5 movesin a small radius on the pivotal spring 4", it may be operated fromwithout the casing and so moved as to come in contact with the shoulder70 on the latch-bar k, which will prevent the latch-bar from being movedeither way from within or without, so producing what is commonly knownas a IIO dead-latch. A coiled spring t, held in position by a suitablelug t in the casing a has an arm t which is forced against a suitableabutment 7s on the latch-bar it, so that when the lock has been openedand the hand has been removed from the knob or handle the latch-bar willfly back again in position to lock the door, which movement will beproduced by the said spring t.

Having now described the several parts which go to make up my improvedlock, 1 will describe its operation when secured to the door, and themanner of operating the combination.

As above stated, the casing a is secured to the inside of the door andthe central spindle f passes through said casing and the door to a pointwithout where a suitable knob or handle is secured to said spindle, asimilar knob or handle being also secured to the inner end of saidspindle, and the spindle operating the tumblers also passing through thedoor. After securing the lock to the door, the tumblers are arrangedaccording to the combination desired, and in describing the operation ofthe look I will take a simple combination in order to give a clearexplanation of the same.

For convenience in description, I will designate the tumblers (Z by thenumerals 1, 2, and 3, beginning with the top one as they are shown inFig. 2. The pin (Z is inserted in the hole (1 in the flange (Z of thetumbler (Z, the hole select-ed in this case being the one to the rightof and next to the nick d on the edge of the tumbler. The tumbler 3 isthen placed in the bottom of the casing and turned until the pin (1comes in contact with the wedge-shaped lug c, which presents a flat facefor the said pin (1 to rest against and holds it firmly in position. Thepin (1 is then inserted in like manner in the corresponding hole in thetumbler 2, which is placed upon the tumbler 3 and turned until the pin(1 comes in contact with the lug d on the tumbler Again the pin (Z isinserted in the corresponding hole in the tumbler 1, which also restsupon the tumbler 2, and the said pin is brought in contact with the lugd on the tumbler 2. \Vhen the tumblers 1, 2, and 3 have been thusarranged, the notches d in said tumblers will all coincide with eachother and be in the same position. Upon the tumblers 1, 2, and 3,arranged as described, is placed the actuating-tumbler c, with the pin 6inserted in the third hole to the right of the nick c on its flange. Byturning the pinion 0 the actuatingtumbler e is also turned and, togetherwith it, the tumblers 1, 2, and 3 in their order, for when theactuating-tumbler e is turned until its pin (2 comes in contact with thelug d of tumbler 1 said tumbler will be carried around with theactuating-tumbler 6 until the pin (Z of tumbler 1 comes in contact withthe lugon tumbler 2, which in turn will be carried around until its pincomes in contact with the lug on tumbler 3, when all the tumblers willturn until the pin on tumbler 3 comes in contact with the wedge-shapedlug c, which brings all the tumblers to afull stop. If the pins havebeen inserted in the holes, as described above, it will be found that byturning the pinion 0 to the right until all the tumblers, including theactuating-tumbler, come to a full stop, the notches d will all coincidewith each other; but as the pin 6 of the actuating-tumbler was notplaced in the hole corresponding to the holes into which the pins 61 oftumblers 1, 2, and 3 were inserted, it will be found that the notch e ofthe actuating-tumbler does not fall in the same position or coincidewith the notches (Z of the other tumblers, but is some distance beyond.In order to bring, therefore, all the notches into coincidence, so thatthe lockingdog Zwill drop into said notches and allow the latch-bar 7ato be operated, it is necessary to turn the actuating-tn mbler back tothe point where the notch 6' will coincide with the notches (F. Inorder, therefore, to discover how many turns must be given to the handlesecured to the spindle o, to which. the pinion o is secured, whichoperates the actuatingtumbler e to bring said actuating-tumbler back tothe point where its notch 6 will coincide with the notches (F, the covera on the opening a of the casing a is removed and the pinion 0 is turnedto the left until the nick e on the flange of the actuating-tumbler isin line with the nicks d on the tumblers 1, 2, and 3, and as these nicksare formed in line with the notches d it is readily apparent that whenall the nicks are in a line with each other all the notches willlikewise coincide, and the arm Z of the dog Zwill be free to drop fromthe recess h of the cam it into said notches and allow the latch-bar itto be operated from the outside. The number of turns which it requiredto bring the nick 6 into line withthe nicks (l is accurately observed,when the cover a is again secured in place on the opening a and the lockcan only be opened by the person having knowledge of the number of turnsrequisite to be given to the spindle o to bring all the notches intocoincideuce. Then the notches have all been brought to coincide witheach other, the dog 5 will fall into the position shown in Fig. 7, thearm Z dropping into said notches. The knob or handle on the end of thespindlefon the outside of the door may now be turned, so that theshoulder 71- is brought into contact with the stud k on the latch-bar7c, and carries said stud, together with the latch-bar 7c, in the samedirection, the ends of said latch-bar moving in suitable guides in thecasing. The door can then be opened and the spring '6 forces thelatch-bar back to its former position when the hand is removed from theknob. The combination is again closed by giving the pinion 0 two orthree turns, which causes the actuating-tumbler e to force the arm lback into the recess h of the cam 71. As statedbefore, on account of theswiveled spindle f the IIO latch-bar can always be operated by the knobon the inside of the door; but when it is desired to prevent this andform a dead-latch, the end s of the dog 3 which extends without thecasing is turned to throw the arm 5 back of the shoulder 19 on thelatch-bar, so that the latch-bar cannot be moved in either direction,While at the same time the pawl p is forced into engagement with theteeth of the actuating-tumbler and so prevents the saidactuating-tumbler from being turned It is readily apparent that thecombination may be changed to many different combinations by simplyremoving the cover a from the opening a and altering the-position of thepins passing through the several tumblers, and then by turning thepinion 0 observe the number of turns necessary to bring the notches intocoincidence with each other when the cover a is again secured in place.

By means of the construction above described I am enabled to produce apermutation-lock which is simple in construction and one which is welladapted for use in private dwellings, offices, safes, or vaults where asecure lock is required.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a permutation-lock, the combination,

with the casing, of the tumblers arranged oneupon the other, a swiveledspindle passing through said casing and tumblers, cams mounted on saidspindle one on each section, the cam on one section having a recessadapted to receive a stud on the latch-bar and to move said latch-barwhen the section carrying the said cam is turned, the cam on the othersection having a recess adapted to receive an arm of a locking-dog whichprevents the said section of the spindle from being turned together withthe cam, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In a permutation-lock, the combination, with the casing, of thetumblers cl, the actuating-tumbler e, and the opening a in said casing,by which the combination may be changed, substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

3. In a permutation-lock, the combination, with the casing, of thewedge-shaped lug c, the tumblers d, said tumblers having the flange d,holes (Z therein, pins d adapted to engage with lugs (1,nioks d notchesd substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. In a permutation-lock, the combination, with the casing,of thetumblers char-ran ged one upon the other and adapted to be turned by theactuating-tumbler c, said actuating-tumbler consisting of the flange eholes 6 pin 6 nick e toothed periphery e, and meshing with a pinion 0,by which said actuatingtumbler is turned, substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

5. In a permutation-lock, the combination, with the casing a, ofthe'central opening a the swiveled spindle f, composed of the twosections f f passing through said central opening, the cams h 7;,mounted on said spindle within the casing a, the cam h, mounted on thesection f and having the recess h, the shoulder 71?, and the annularseat It therein, adapted to receive the neck i of the cam '6, mounted onthe section f of the spindle f, said cam having also a recess *9,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. In a permutation-lock, the combination, with the casing a, of thespindle f, composed of the sections f f, the cams h t', mounted on saidsections, recesses h k on said cams, the one recess 71/ of the cam hadapted to receive the arm Z of the locking-dog Z pivoted to the casinga, a shoulder k adapted to come in contact with the stud k of thelatch-bar it when the section f is turned, and the other recess 1' ofthe cam 4; adapted to receive and move the stud 7c of the latch-bar 70when the section f is turned, substantially as and for I the purposesset forth.

7. In a permutation-lock, the combination, with the casing a, of thetumblers cl, the actuating-tumbler e, having the toothed periphery c,the pinion 0, the pawl 19, sliding in the guideway q and extendingwithout the casing through opening q, said pawl being arranged to enterand be withdrawn from the toothed periphery c, substantially as and forthe purposes set forth.

8. In a permutation-lock, the combination, with the casing a, of theswiveled spindle f, the cams h t, mounted thereon, the stud It,latch-bar 7c, shoulder Won said latch-bar, the pawl 19, lug p thereon,coiled spring 1", dog 3, having seat .9, in which coiled spring 0"enters, the end 8 extending without the casing a through opening q, sothat by moving the end 5 the arm 5 may be swung around to come incontact with the shoulder 15 of the latch-bar k, and so form adead-latch, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I, the said CYRUS F. BILHIMER, have hereunto set myhand.

- CYRUS F. BILHIMER.

\Vitnesses:

ELI MoOoRMIcK, FRED. SCHADE.

